(1) SPECIAL leave is granted. Heard the learned counsel for the parties.

(2) THE respondent who was the Head Constable in the Police Force of the appellant, State of Punjab, was prematurely retired in accordance with the rules. He challenged the same by filing a suit out of which the present appeal arises, making inter alia allegations of mala fides on the part of two senior Superintendents of Police, Mr S.S. Bains and Mr Bua Singh. It was also pleaded by the respondent that his services were good throughout and there was no material whatsoever on the basis of which a decision for his early retirement could have been taken. The trial court decreed the suit. The State appealed and the Additional District Judge, Gurdaspur, who heard the appeal, while observing that the defendant- State had failed to produce relevant materials in support of its denial of the plaint allegations, allowed the State to produce the relevant records for examination by the court. This was not done within the permitted time. The appellate court, then, proceeded to dispose of the appeal on the basis of the evidence already on the records. The court agreed with the conclusion of the trial court a